Criminal Justice News

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Former Executive Sentenced for Conspiracy to Bribe Panamanian Officials

A former regional director of the technology company SAP
International Inc. was sentenced to prison today for his role in a scheme to
bribe Panamanian officials to secure the award of government technology
contracts.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch of the
Northern District of California, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the
FBI’s Miami Division and Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas McMahon of
Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

Vicente Eduardo Garcia, 65, of Miami, was sentenced to 22
months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern
District of California.On Aug. 12,
2015, Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).On July
15, 2015, Garcia and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) entered
into a settlement of the parallel SEC investigation in which Garcia agreed,
among other things, to pay disgorgement of $85,965 plus prejudgment
interest.For this reason, the United
States did not request, and the court did not order, forfeiture in the criminal
action.

In his plea, Garcia admitted that in late 2009, to secure
for SAP a multimillion-dollar contract to provide a Panamanian state agency
with a technology upgrade package, Garcia conspired with others to bribe two
Panamanian government officials directly and a third official through an
agent.Garcia admitted that the
conspirators used sham contracts and false invoices to disguise the true nature
of the bribes and that he believed paying such bribes was necessary to secure
the initial and any future Panamanian government contracts.Panamanian officials awarded the $14.5
million contract, which included $2.1 million in SAP software licenses, to
SAP’s partner as well as subsequent contracts that also included the provision
of SAP products.Garcia personally
received over $85,000 in kickbacks for arranging the bribes.

The FBI and IRS-CI investigated the case.Trial Attorney Aisling O’Shea of the Criminal
Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam A. Reeves of the
Northern District of California are prosecuting the case.The Criminal Division’s Office of
International Affairs and the SEC, which previously announced separate civil
charges against Garcia, provided assistance.